CBD for Beginners: What, Why, & How to Choose

Few ingredients have taken skincare by storm quite like CBD – it’s quite likely that you’ve noticed the recent hype around this all-natural wonder ingredient.  As more and more people seek out natural skincare solutions and holistic wellness remedies, this powerhouse natural ingredient can be found in skincare, tinctures, balms, oils, and supplements. 

But even though CBD has been well-researched in the past few years, most people are still confused about exactly what this hemp extract is and what it does for you. In this post, we look at the what, why, and how of CBD so you can introduce this holy grail beauty and wellness ingredient into your life with confidence. 

What is CBD?

CBD, or cannabidiol is an active ingredient derived from a sub-species of the Cannabis Sativa plant. It is a natural ingredient that is used in cosmetic products and supplements for its calming and healing benefits. CBD is not psychoactive and will not make you high.

You’ve likely heard the names cannabis and hemp in relation to CBD, which is confusing. 

The hemp plant is a specific variety of Cannabis Sativa. People have grown hemp for hundreds of years, using it to make paints, printing inks, varnishes, paper, Government documents, bank notes, food, and even Levis jeans! Producers can grow hemp legally across most of the world, subject to strict local regulations. 

The hemp variety of Cannabis Sativa contains high levels of CBD –  which is why in most cases, manufacturers use the leaves and flowers of the hemp plant to make CBD products. The beauty of CBD is that it’s completely natural. In fact, your body produces its own cannabinoids, called endocannabinoids, which are believed to be responsible for balancing your systems so that you experience the feel-good factor that comes when everything in your body is working in harmony. 

Why is CBD Good for Skin?

Cannabidiol offers amazing antioxidant and antiinflammatory benefits for skin. As a skincare ingredient, it’s almost unsurpassed in terms of its ability to heal the skin, effectively treating common skin concerns like eczema, psoriasis, and dry skin. 

Because it balances oil-production, CBD is also excellent at fighting acne. It’s suitable for all skin types and as a natural ingredient, it is bio-available for skin. Your skin recognises it and knows what to do with it. In short, CBD is a balancing, healing, hydrating ingredient that helps the skin to look and feel its best everyday.

But let’s go deeper than that: how does CBD work for skin? What does it do? To answer that, we need to familiarise ourselves with the endocannabinoid  system.

The endocannabinoid system is the naturally occurring system inside every skeletal animal that promotes healing. It has five main functions: pain sensation, cell function, appetite, mood, and sleep. In short, it is your body’s regulator. When it is functioning smoothly, everything feels balanced and you live a better daily life.

Stress, lifestyle, and toxins can throw this system into chaos, ultimately leading to chronic conditions. There are endocannabinoid receptors inside every single system in the body, inside and out.  Our skin — the largest organ in the body — contains a huge amount of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoid machinery. When the skin is subjected to toxic ingredients, the system deregulates, leading to conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and pigmentation disorders.

When you use a well-formulated CBD skin care product, the CBD penetrates the outer layer  of  the skin to reach the endocannabinoid receptors and regulate the activity of the endocannabinoid system. This results in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and skin healing effects. 

Which is why CBD has been clinically proven to work for inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. So you see, it’s science, not magic!

How to choose the right CBD skin care products

Deciding to incorporate CBD into your beauty and wellness regime is a great decision, but trying to decipher confusing labels can make it a nightmare to choose what’s best for you. Here are the 3 main things you should consider before you choose:

Type of CBD

Every CBD product is formulated using one of 3 types  of CBD – isolate, broad spectrum, or full spectrum. Isolate is CBD only, and contains no other cannabis sativa plant extracts. Broad spectrum contains some other hemp plant compounds like terpenes, and full spectrum contains lots of other compounds like flavanoids, cannabinoids,  and terpenes that are naturally present in the hemp flower.

While each type is good for skin, full spectrum CBD is widely regarded as having maximum CBD benefits because of something called the entourage effect. Put simply, the entourage effect means that CBD works better in combination with other cannabinoids, fatty acids, and terpenes found in the hemp plant, rather than just on its own. 

So when shopping for CBD skincare, make sure you check for a "broad spectrum", ‘full spectrum’ or ‘whole plant’ label.

Potency

Figuring out what’s actually inside your CBD skin care product can be bewildering. CBD skin care products are made by infusing the base product (balm, serum, lotion, or cream) with CBD oil. 

We already know that your best chance of success will result with a full spectrum CBD product. But the concentration of CBD that is present is important too. The problem is that it is not an exact science. For example, a body lotion that contains 300mg CBD is less concentrated than an eye cream containing the same amount,  because there is more base product in the body lotion!

Basically, there’s no simple answer to “how much CBD oil should a good skincare product contain”.  A reputable CBD skincare brand will specify the type and concentration of CBD on every product they  produce. Even if you’re not sure what exact potency you should use, the mere fact that the brand is declaring it is a good thing in the world of murky CBD  marketing.

The concentration of CBD is important because in general, higher CBD potency will lead to better results (although as with any active ingredient, there is a peak concentration after which benefits taper off). Products with a very low concentration of CBD are just hopping on the CBD bandwagon hoping for sales,  and won’t have any visible effect on the skin. 

With CBD, it’s a matter of finding a brand that you trust to have done the potency calculations for you because they want what’s best for your skin and know exactly how to deliver that. 

One last thing –  hemp seed oil is not the same as CBD and in fact contains virtually no CBD – don’t make the mistake of confusing the two.

Quality

Perhaps the most important factor you need to be sure of is the quality of  the product you intend to purchase because not all CBD is created equal.

The hemp plant absorbs everything that’s in the soil it’s grown in, good and bad. It’s essentially a weed that will suck everything out of the earth. Therefore, it’s essential to choose brands that use farm-fresh CBD that is ethically grown in good soil.  Make sure you trust the brand and have confidence that their product is safe. 

Which leads us on to certification. A Certificate of Analysis, or COA, helps ensure that a manufacturer's products are made to specification, and indicates the quantity of CBD in each product. ​COAs keep customers safe and informed,  and they also help to guarantee product quality. 

As we said before, hemp absorbs everything that’s in the soil it’s grown in so you need to be careful with regard to harmful chemicals that have been leached from the soil. 

JuanaCBD

At Juana Skin, we use organically grown European hemp and a food grade extraction process that doesn’t damage the vital structure of the cannabinoids. All of our products are clinically tested and proven to work. We use EU-accredited 3rd-party testing laboratories so that every Juana product is safety, quality, and potency guaranteed.

At  Juana Skin, we create natural, safe, high-quality, CBD products that are clinically tested and proven to work.